On May 21, Hortonworks made available for download the 1.1 release of Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP) for Windows, an open-source implementation of Apache Hadoop.

Hortonworks made available for download a beta of the Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP) for Windows on February 25. At that time, Hortonworks announced the HDP work was an extension of its two-year-old Hadoop partnership with Microsoft. (HDP didn't exist yet when Microsoft and Hortonworks initially announced their partnrship.)

In 2011, Microsoft announced it was partnering with Hortonworks to create both a Windows Azure and Windows Server implementations of the Hadoop big data framework. At that time, Microsoft officials committed to providing a Community Technology Preview (CTP) test build of the Hadoop-based service for Windows Azure before the end of calendar 2011 and a CTP of the Hadoop-based distribution for Windows Server some time in 2012. Microsoft delivered public test builds of Hadoop for Azure -- known officially as Windows Azure HDInsight Service -- and Hadoop for Windows -- HDInsight Server for Windows -- in October 2012.

HDP is the foundational layer for Microsoft's HDInsight offerings, according to Hortonworks officials. Microsoft's HDInsight platforms include tight integration with a number of Microsoft services and products.

Microsoft officials have not provided an updated delivery target for the final versions of its HDInsight platforms for Windows Server or Azure.